


We Have Not Walked This Path Before

by CarnalCoffeeBean



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Juno Has a Good Day and Feels Good About It, Other, Pre-Canon, bb Juno&co, before Hijikata
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 15:53:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17901059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarnalCoffeeBean/pseuds/CarnalCoffeeBean
Summary: They glance up, eyes dancing. “Detective Steel, took you long enough.”“You’re early.” Juno leans over. “And in my chair.”“And in your clothes, too.” Diamond winks.





	We Have Not Walked This Path Before

Juno Steel crashes into the office, evidence baggies in hand, and slaps them down on Captain Jacobs’ desk.

“Got it, sir,” he says, glancing down and definitely not checking his watch. 4:49—enough time, if he hurries.

“Hm,” Captain Jacobs says. Outside, at her desk, Rita turns to go back to whatever’s on her screen, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. In the office, life continues as usual—officers making copies, filling out paperwork, doing research, chatting. 

“You just lemme know when you wan’ me to put that in the locker for ya, okay, Mistah Steel!” she—well, she does yell, but to be fair, nearly everything she says sounds like yelling, so it might be more of a says, Juno supposes.

He doesn’t have time for supposing right now.

“Sir, you said if I got the evidence on the Jones case to the office by 5:00 PM, I could—”

“I know what I said, Steel,” Jacobs intones, and gestures for him to pull out a seat. Juno barely resists a groan. Of course it’d be now that Jacobs would pull this overbearing protective boss shit.

“Now where’d you find— “

“In the glove compartment of the car, where I thought it’d be all along, if you remember,” Juno interrupts, then hastily adds, “sir.”

Captain Jacobs’ eyebrows rise.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, it is. And if you don’t mind— “

“That was some good work, detective, quicker than I was expecting, and,” he inspects a bag, checks the labeling, “more thorough.” And normally Juno would bask in this, would love it, but today, today—

“Thanks, but—”

“Calm down, Detective Steel.” Jacobs grabs another bag, peers at the cartridge within. “Have a drink. You’ve got good instincts; tell me what you’re thinking about this case.”

“S-sir?” Juno’s heart is still beating double-time from sprinting all the way from the parking lot, where he’s pretty sure his car’s parked—messily would be a generous term—and Captain Jacobs turns around with two shot glasses and a dark amber bourbon in his hands.

“You must have some thoughts.” Jacobs pours a drink.

“Sir, I’d love to talk to you about this later, but— “

“Oh, stop teasin’ the lady!” yells Rita. Her smile’s as wide as Juno’s ever seen it, and a little bit mischievous as well. “He gets any redder, he’s gonna pop like a ripe tomato, and then his pretty datefriend he’s supposed to be goin’ out with tonight who’s sittin’ right outside is gonna be comin’ around here real mad!”

“Well, now,” Jacobs says. He stoppers the liquid, holds the shot glass out to Juno. “Is that true?” There’s a damn twinkle in the man’s eye, and Juno glances out the office windows. A figure is slouched in his chair with his legs on the desk in flagrant violation of Jacobs’ office-appropriate behavior, with a police jacket slung over their shoulders and the brim of an HCPD ballcap pulled low.

“Are you the reason there’s been a damn civilian lounging in my bullpen for the last twenty minutes?”

“Sorry,” Juno begins, but Jacobs interrupts.

“ — and that you were so focused on trying to get your job done so that you could leave to see them that you walked _right by_ your own desk and didn’t even notice?”

McCroy sticks his head in and grins, smug as he can be. 

“Sir, those files you asked for. Oh, and congrats on those observational skills, detective.”

“McCroy— “ he starts, but Rita winks at him. He looks at her, then decides to shut up.

“Detective Steel,” Jacobs says, not unkindly, “get them out of my station. They’re hell on the office equipment.”

Juno looks down, takes the shot still in his hand, and grins. “Yes, sir.”

A chorus of wolf-whistles and good-natured laughter greets him as he walks out Jacobs’ office, and Rita gives him a thumbs-up. He stalks over to his desk, where they’re intently tapping away something at their comms.

They glance up, eyes dancing. “Detective Steel, took you long enough.”

“You’re early.” Juno leans over. “And in my chair.”

“And in your clothes, too.” Diamond winks.

“That’s easy enough to fix,” Juno pulls the hat off, sets it on the sleeping monitor. Diamond leans forward, tugging the jacket more securely onto their shoulders.

“And the rest?”

“Don’t know if you’ve noticed, Diamond, but we’re in my office. Hardly the place for that.”

“And some of us are grateful,” Puck chimes in from a cubicle over.

“Oh, boo.” Diamond takes the hand Juno offers him and stands up gracefully on heels Juno would’ve thought were frankly impossible until he’d met them. “So, rumor around here’s that you were betting.”

“Nothing big,” Juno hedges. Puck, a cubicle over, rolls their eyes.

“Leave already!” they say, and Juno grins.

Detective Steel, gambling? I never.” They turn. “Well, first things first. Did you win?”

His grin widens just a bit. “Yep.”

“What’s the prize?”

Juno’s eyes slide over to Martinez, at the copier. He waves, and she bristles.

“Let’s just say _I’m_ going out with the loveliest person in all of Mars tonight, and _someone’s_ gotta stay and organize a few file cabinets.”

“Well, then,” Diamond bends down to give a soft kiss to his cheek, “Juno, I’m ever so glad it was you who won.”

Juno puts a hand on their cheek, turns their face, presses a soft kiss on their lips. Eyes locked, a soft smile at the corner of his mouth, he says, “Me too.”

Rita sighs, and Puck groans, and Martinez fumes, and Juno smiles, and Diamond laughs. 

And there are days and days, strings of them, over and over, that are hard or stressful or painful beyond endurance—days he can’t get out of bed, days where the weight of everything he’s ever done bogs him down, days where he’s still stuck in that damn house with Sarah goddamned Steel and can’t break the locks and get free, can feel that noose around his neck tightening with every moment. Days where he remembers Benzaiten’s smile and it’s like a dagger digging into his lungs, days where he forgets it and panics he’ll never remember again. Days that he breaks himself against, days that break him. 

Juno Steel doesn’t get a lot of good days; doesn’t let himself have a lot of good days. Doesn’t think he deserves it, most of the time.

But now, with Puck hiding a smile behind their played-up irritation, with Jacobs’ praise tucked away in his mind where no one else can steal it, with Diamond looking at him like he’s the greatest, smartest, most beautiful person in the galaxy, with that breathless, amazed smile, red-tinted lips quirking up right at the corners, as if they can’t help it… 

Juno and Diamond step out of the office, hand in hand. Juno shades his eyes against the glare of Mars’ cold sun. There’s a lot of bad days, he thinks, and squeezes Diamond’s hand. Diamond looks back at him, quirks a brow. Presses a kiss to the back of his hand.

A lot of bad days, and yet, with moments like these, with more of them to look forward to in the future… 

Well, right now Juno’s looking forward; right now he’s hopeful. And that’s hard-won, and it’s enough for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this shameless moment of happiness for Juno before it all went sideways in ways I personally can't wait to find out about. Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated, as always!


End file.
